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Meet Udaybhai - The auto-driver who started “Ahmedabad no Rickshawalo” on 21st October 2010, with the concept of gift-economy in mind.
The idea behind gift-economy is that someone before you has paid for your travel; now you have to pay-it-forward for the subsequent passengers.
The idea behind gift-economy is that someone before you has paid for your travel; now you have to pay-it-forward for the subsequent passengers.
Udaybhai, after every trip, provides the passenger with a self-written greeting envelope in which the passenger places an amount of his/her choice.
The seed of the initiative was born from the inspiration Udaybhai derived from the work of Manav Sadhna – an NGO based in Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad, dedicated to the upliftment of the underprivileged, especially children, through love – and his proximity to Padmashri Ishwarbhai Patel.
Born and brought up in Ahmedabad in a family of 10 – parents, 3 kids, wife, brother, sister and her son - Udaybhai comes from a very simple middle class background with a load of responsibilities.
In his own words, it takes faith and the right spirit to do this! His conviction is what drives him. He is determined to do his job with full passion and he continues to make his customers think deeper, smile harder and love stronger!
After successfully driving an Ahmedabad rickshaw for 6 continuous years, Udaybhai has purchased another vehicle to address the growing needs of "comfort travel", calling it "Sabarmati no Saarthi." This too will be run on the concept of gift economy.
Currently, there are some big expenses that have piled up on Udaybhai :
1. His son's engineering fees
2. Re-paying his car loan
For the relentless service that Udaybhai has done for society, we hope to ease the pressure of his responsibilities a little bit and help him pay back his car loan soon. He has made a down payment of INR 55,000 and needs to pay back another INR 350,000 to the bank.
What say we change the life of a man who is changing so many lives himself?
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Udaybhai was profiled as part of our docu-film series Better Days - You can watch the first episode here:
1. His son's engineering fees
2. Re-paying his car loan
For the relentless service that Udaybhai has done for society, we hope to ease the pressure of his responsibilities a little bit and help him pay back his car loan soon. He has made a down payment of INR 55,000 and needs to pay back another INR 350,000 to the bank.
What say we change the life of a man who is changing so many lives himself?
_______________________________________
Udaybhai was profiled as part of our docu-film series Better Days - You can watch the first episode here:
Better Days is a 12-part web-series on the stories of inspiring common Indians. Produced by Bem Te Vi Producoes, In Association With The Better India & Times Now, Digital Partner - Facebook India.
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